OF MONSTERS AND MADNESS by Jessica Verday: Author Q&A and Giveaway

Today I am hosting Jessica Verday as part of the blog tour for her new book, Of Monsters and Madness. Jessica Verday is a new-to-me author and I extremely excited to read Of Monsters and Madness which is a retelling of Edgar Allen Poe and his character Annabel Lee. I've asked Jessica about her thoughts on writing and to share a little bit about herself. Read what she has to say and then enter for a chance to win a copy of Of Monsters and Madness.

Q&A - OF MONSTERS AND MADNESS

Have you always been a writer? Did you keep a journal or write stories when you were

younger? 

I’ve never been a journaler, and many of the stories I wrote when I was younger

would have beginnings but no endings. I always liked the idea of a story having

a thousand different endings, so I never wanted to tie it down to just one.

Making it a goal to finally write an ending was one of the first steps I took when

I began to write for publication. 

How long do you think about a story or characters until you finally decide what you want

to write about it/them?  

Great question! For me, this usually depends on the story. If the story idea is

ready it can all come together pretty quickly. But sometimes the idea and/or

characters needs more time to percolate. For example: The idea for the book

I’m working on now for after OF MONSTERS AND MADNESS came together over

the course of a weekend and was ready to be written right away. But the idea

for the book I wrote before OF MONSTERS AND MADNESS came to me in 2008 -

when I was still writing THE HOLLOW Trilogy. It took five years until it was

ready to be written. The trickiest part of it all is that I can’t always predict

which book will be a weekend idea book and which book will take years to

develop!

What is your favorite writing environment? Is it also your most productive? 

My favorite writing environment is late at night when everything is quiet and it seems like the whole world is asleep. Bonus points if there’s a storm or a full moon or the wind is whipping through the trees. (The entire autumn season? Pretty much my writing heaven!) I can’t write with music on or the TV on as I start to subconsciously write whatever my ear is hearing. So I always write in silence. Since it can’t always be fall, nighttime is without a doubt my most productive time. I can spend hours during the day forcing myself to write two paragraphs, but when night falls and the hour grows late, it’s like an automatic writing switch is flipped in my brain. Then I can write pages faster than I can keep up with them.

What is the best piece of writing advice you've received?  

Read broadly and read widely. Sometimes this piece of advice can be hard to

follow, especially when you’re under several different deadlines and you don’t

always have time to spend hours with someone else’s words. But it’s so important to find your way back to reading when you do get the chance. I

definitely notice when it’s been too long since I’ve picked up someone else’s

book. (I don’t like to read YA when I’m writing YA so I tend to stick to horror

and medical thrillers when I’m writing my own stuff because it’s so different

from my YA voice.)

What one piece of advice you would give to aspiring writers?  

For every ten good reviews you get, that one bad one will be what you remember the most. It works that way for everyone. The key is to try to accept that this WILL happen from the beginning and to try work through it the best way you can. Just be good to yourself when it does happen. Give yourself time to get upset about it. Then find a way to forget about it and move on. I strongly recommend ice cream! 

Tell me five random things about yourself. 

 1) I am obsessed with antique furniture. I have a basement full of old couches and chairs and desks, and I still don’t have enough. Just the thought of faded upholstery on an antique chair makes my heart skip a beat. 

2) I visit Johnny Cash’s grave every year on Christmas day and on his death day to pay my respects. 

3) The first ghost I ever saw was a girl whose body was found at the bottom of a well in the house right next to the one I grew up in. 

4) In middle school I discovered THE BABYSITTER’S CLUB books and loved the character of Jessi so much that I changed the spelling of my name to match hers. 

5) I can’t sleep when things that get hot are plugged in while they’re not being used. (Toaster, blow dryer, phone charger, laptop, etc...) I’m afraid of spontaneous combustion!

 

OF MONSTERS AND MADNESS

by Jessica Verday

Publication Date: September 9, 2014

Published by EgmontUSA

288 Pages

A romantic, historical retelling of classic Gothic horror featuring Edgar Allan Poe and his character Annabel Lee, from a New York Times best-selling author.

Summoned to her father's home in 1820's Philadelphia, a girl finds herself in the midst of a rash of gruesome murders in which he might be implicated. She is torn romantically between her father's assistants-one kind and proper, one mysterious and brooding-who share a dark secret and may have more to do with the violent events than they're letting on.

About the Author

Jessica Verday is the New York Times best-selling author of The Hollow trilogy. She wrote the first draft of The Hollow by hand, using thirteen spiral-bound notebooks and fifteen black pens. The first draft of The Haunted took fifteen spiral-bound notebooks and twenty black pens. The Hidden took too many notebooks and too many pens to count. She lives in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, with her husband.  You can visit her online at www.jessicaverday.com.

Giveaway Details
Prize: One copy of OF MONSTERS AND MADNESS by Jessica Verday
(provided by EgmontUSA)

Must be 13 years or Older to enter
U.S./Canada addresses only
To enter, fill out Rafflecopter below
Giveaway ends September 15, 2014

If I cannot verify your entries, those entries will not count.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Tomorrow's Tour Stop

  September 5, 2014

IceyBooks

Check THIS LIST for all tour stops